In a press release published on its website last Thursday, the animal
activist group Stop Animal Exploitation Now! accused the University of allowing
at least 10 laboratory rats to die of starvation.
According to the account by an anonymous former laboratory employee, the rats
were not given food or water in what was perhaps a miscommunication between
animal staff and research staff. Two of the rats starved to death after a period
of days and those remaining needed to be euthanized.

SAEN’s founder and Executive Director, Michael Budkie, would not divulge any
information about the anonymous contact or acknowledge whether this
“whistleblower” was the same source that had provided an account in September
detailing multiple instances of research misconduct dating back to 2004 and
graphic pictures of the University’s lab.

Rats and mice are specifically excluded from the Animal Welfare Act even
though they are the most commonly used creatures in research. Also excluded are
birds, horses and other farm animals. The AWA is the only U.S. legislation of
its kind that protects research animals.

The USDA is the organization charged with upholding the AWA through monthly
inspections of testing spaces.

“With nonhuman primates, we can easily access USDA records,” Budkie said.
“[With rats] I can’t even tell you how many are used in research because no
institutions exist to prevent or penalize misconduct.”

“Institutions may well feel that they can abuse [rats] because they can’t be
penalized,” Budkie said. Budkie has been at the front of the campaign against
University laboratory conduct since early September. Last Friday, SAEN organized
a protest at the corner of Washington Road and Nassau Street.

Additionally, a commercial detailing the University’s recent misconduct with
nonhuman primate testing began airing in November on major networks including
CNN, Fox and Animal Planet. The commercial was created by SAEN to raise
awareness in the community.

The University has been accused of animal testing misconduct multiple times
this year. Past inspection reports by the USDA show that the University received
six violations in 2011 and 11 in 2010.

This past June, the USDA also sent a formal warning to the University
threatening that each additional violation would incur a fine of $3,750.

“Since the staff at Princeton cannot follow the Animal Welfare Act, they
should end testing on nonhuman primates,” Budkie said. “Clearly, from our press
release today, we are concerned with all species handled at Princeton.”

University Spokesperson Martin Mbugua has said that the University takes all
allegations seriously and reviews procedures regularly to prevent future
incidents. He has reiterated the importance of animal research on humans, the
environment and even other animal species.

“In the past few years we have been strengthening our oversight of animal
research by reviewing Princeton’s Institutional Animals Care and Use procedures
and hiring additional regulatory compliance personnel,” Mbugua has said.

According to Mbugua, a review of the University compliance hotline, one in
which any employee may submit an anonymous concern, did not find any of the
misconduct allegations detailed in the “whistleblower” account provided to SAEN
in September.